balancing 15 books on my head, reciting pi to the 100th digit, and solving a rubik's cube.

Check out awesomely, fantablulous, rocks my world to the core, melts titanium with pure awesome-ness, melts my brains, eats candy bars, then vomits out even better candy bars, 007 coolness, sports red farrari boots, GIRL!

Woman, i am in love with you.

Scrooge Mc-Yuva's take on the Shimano 105

I bought a totally beat up 2 year old 105 complete groupset from Amreet a few months back and have clocked almost 1000km on the setup already.

Shifting wise, rear shifting is fast, smooth and precise. However i still do not enjoy the upshifting using the big throwbacks on the big levers. It jumps waaay to  many gears at once and it takes some control to shiftup one gear at a time. Downshifting is v good though.

Crankset shifting is not good. I'll be honest. My old Sora's crankset shifting was more responsive. I takes two throws to shift completely to the smaller chain ring, and even then the throwing isn't uber smooth. I'm not sure if the age of the gruppo is a factor.

Weight isn't an issue. I mean, the Trek's already sporting steel bits and pieces, so the 105 was defintely an upgrade.

I have had the pleasure of test riding an Ultegra 6700 and a Dura Ace 7800 bike and obviously they kick 105's all the way to the moon. However, DA and Ultegra? No noticeable difference, unless you count weight savings. Am not pro enough to comment on stiffness and power transfer though i feel the Ultegra crank is slightly more balanced than the 105's.

Price wise, if you're buying a complete bike, and its your first, I recommend the new Tiagra gruppo. If you want a 10 speeder, go for the 105.

If you're custom building a serious racer, do not even look at the 105. Pay a few hundred more and get the Ultegra. Better resale value too. I would not pay more than 350 for a second hand 105 groupset (not including chain and BB).

Bottom line. If you want the thrills of a 10speeder and you're not going to race, 105 all the way.

Aight, that's enough bike talk.

Full Damage Breakdown :


Gruppo : SGD280
105 pedals : SGD80
105 chain : SGD40
Buildup with new BB and bartape : SGD70
Frame and old Ultegra + Sora : SGD400
Time RXT shoes : SGD130
Misc : SGD50 
Jamis sold for : - SGD300


GRAND TOTAL INVESTED : SGD 750 for 1000km of thrills




So totally worth it




Cheers from the,


Matrix

Scrooge Mc-Yuva

S-Works Specialized Shiv. I want one so bad my tooth hurts

I've decided not to participate in next week's 36km Time Trial along Changi Coastal. Right, some background for readers not familiar with cycling.

Time Trialling is kind of like a solo race against the clock. Fastest between 2 points of about 40km wins. Quite naturally you need special equipment for it. A Time Trial or a TT bike. It differs from a tradition road bike in 2 senses. The geometry puts the rider in a lower and more forward position. Your back is almost horizontal when you ride a TT bike. And its more aerodynamic than a road bike (though now the difference is becoming increasingly blurred).

The result is , you ride about 2kph faster, more if you're a really good rider. And that's a lot of time saving. The bike is highly unstable though, try riding with your arms tucked into your shoulders at 35kph and you'll know what i'm talking about. I've only ever tried a TT bike once, and its a crap ride. Painful, scarily unstable, BUT OH MY GOD ITS FAST ON THE STRAIGHTS!

You need to go on to the drops on a roadie and come out of your saddle to sprint, and you don't last. On a TT bike, you sprint more slowly but you can maintain a higer speed for an extended period.

Aight, enough bike-talk.

The point is, the race costs 40 bucks and well i don't get much fun out of it apart from a goody bag, and a sense of accomplishment. That works for quite a number of people, but i really want more bang for my buck.

I am a scrooge what.

And so i'm going to be going for the Sprint Challenge. 500 m drag race between 2 racers. I will almost def be bombed out, but oh my, its going to be more fun than the TT race.

On an off note, life is just awesome now. True true, i have an anal boss who pretty much makes my job which is really interesting kind of stressful, but it rocks to come back and just do what you like after work. Group of solo rides, dinner outside after, movies, weekend plans, its awesome.


OH, on another note, i'm finding it really easy to talk to women now. I don't mean my friends, but random people. The formula is simple:

1) Smile and don't look like you're about to eat her

2) Confidence. Once you're at a stage where you don't care what she think about this random chap talking to her, its pretty much smooth sailing.

3) Say bye once you've run out of conversation topics even if its after a couple of seconds. If she's interested, she'll try to keep you around. No loss if you strike out, plenty more fish out there.



Cheers from the,


Matrix

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version - Official

FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!

Gorillaz - Stylo (Full Version HD Music Video Clip) - Works in All Countries

good stuff

Keane - Somewhere Only We Know (US Edition)

This song is stuck in my head. Enjoy =)

Matrix

Its going to be an interesting day...

I'm sitting at a Starbucks near gate C3 (freeloading actually on the wifi and seats without buying anything) waiting for my flight out to Singapore from KL. Being back, even if it was for only 2 days was awesome. Good food, taking care of sister (its not bad at all, we watched a movie and all) and air conditioned room comforts.

I will be at work within the next 3 hours, to meet a deadline for this power plant optimisation software set by my boss. Plant's up and running in Vietnam and i really hope to be able to go on site (i think i will actually seeing noone else apart from my partner and me know how to handle anything in this project).

Today will end with an awesome thigh burning workout on the mongrel bike around NTU before dinner to whip myself into shape for a ride to Faber and to burn the calories i've been packing in since i got home 2 days ago.


Cheers from the,


Matrix

Controversy

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AIDS

Yeah, you just read it here. I recently chanced across an advertisement for a programme debunking AIDS. I ran a google search and came up with this:

The Big Lie About Aids

Of course, the fact that this article was published in a 1994 softporn magazine (Penthouse) didn't help much in its credibility. But i was still very interested. So i dug somemore and i came up with this:

HIV Is Not The Cause Of AIDS

This particular article is from an Orgone Biophysical Research Lab. Now i googled this lab to see if it is in fact a recognised facility. It didn't help that the website looked like something from the 10th century Internet and that this was a "non-profit" facility.

I was by this point losing interest in establishing credibility of my source and proceeded to keep googling for this controversy. 

In short i can sum it up in one sentence:

HIV and AIDS allegedly do not go hand in hand. HIV is not the cause of AIDS and AIDS is merely a name given to old diseases such as pneumonia which HIV positive people happen to have.

The following equation simplifies this:

no HIV+pneumonia = pneumonia

HIV+pneumonia = AIDS

I think this warrants further digging up eh?

 Anti-evolution activists in the US, who have for years been trying to ban Darwin's teachings in the classroom have launched a new offensive. You see, the US constitution clearly states that the Church and State is seperate, however, these chaps are now tyring to play the "freedom of academia" card.

Now I won't say that evolution is 100% correct. However, it is the most highly likely theory behind the big question of how we came to be. Natural Selection is supported by established biologists whom had to face scrutiny, cross examination and years of research.

The Church on the other hand plies its trade via a book written by man which claims the Earth was created by divine intervention and Intelligent Design. 

Given these 2 theories to choose, i'd choose the one that had to undergo the most scrutiny, unless of course the big man/woman him/herself came down and knocked in my head with a hammer made of lightning and burnt Darwin books. Then i'll kneel and say, "Amen".

I then started thinking of running with the herd. Is it always such a bad thing? I mean, yeah, you can get yourself a Blackberry just to acting like everyone else and buying and iPhone. But truth be told, an iPhone is by far the best interfaced gizmo i've used in years. Its really that good.

This has been rather a random post eh?

Cheers from the,

Matrix

In this onslaught of Feminish, Real Men are quickly becoming a dying specie

Real Men are not scruffy, untidy, beer guzzling louths who have total disrespect for society, rules , women and overindulge in blatant and reckless macho-ness.

Real Men exude class, integrity and above all, they aren't pussies. Real men are not feminists, nor support feminism. Real men do not indulge women and their games of cat and mouse with men over sexism and chauvinism. Real men know how to lead and take charge. Real men are confident.

Feminism is highly over rated and Oprah Winfrey needs to just roll over and die (i'm speaking about her show, not her soul).

For years women have been "making up for lost opportunity and inequality" caused by men and society of yester-years with this concept of feminism. It was all good, what with the whole "strong confident woman" and "equal opportunites as men" and with an uprise in Women's Rights over the past 3 decades to the point i can safely say a woman in today's world is no different from a man, except that part about physical strength and a penis which only comes with testosterone and that's something we can't be fair about.

Back in the Nineties, emboldened by the successes of feminism, women sought to slay the dragon of patriarchy by turning men into ridiculous cissies who would cry with them through chick-flicks and then cook up a decent lasagne.

Suddenly, women wanted to drive home their newfound equality by moulding men to be more like them.

This velvet revolution was reflected in a series of broader cultural changes. After decades of uncompromising movie heroes like Marlon Brando and Clint Eastwood, we were asked to fall for stuttering, floppy-haired fops like Hugh Grant; touchy-feely and hopelessly embarrassed around women.

These are cardboard cut-out men who gush with empathy whenever their wives and girlfriends need to dump their professional stresses and female angst on them: weak and soulless men who haven't the guts to make a mark themselves, who take the passenger seat in their women's juggernaut journey to post-feminist Nirvana.

Men are now generally terrified of women. They hold their tongues for fear of being misinterpreted as sexist; they constantly attempt to secondguess their partner in order to avoid giving offence.

They preen themselves with groaning shelves full of beauty products so they won't incur derision and scorn. They suppress their masculinity and present themselves as cuddly Mr Nice Guys, and won't project self- confidence in case it's regarded as unreconstructed machismo.

This backfiring feminist conspiracy has, of course, developed hand in hand with the march of raging political correctness all over the world. The two have combined like some potent chemical reaction to explode in the faces of a generation of women who thought that a 'moulded' man would make for a desirable one.

In recent years, men have been trained like circus seals to be inoffensive to women, and no longer know how to entice them and turn them on.

Women THINK they know what they want. A moulded man. But in reality, a man with a swagger, great confidence and has genuine respect for her without being a total doormat pussy who'd do anything for her is what a woman needs.

Real men don't pretend or even try to understand women. They simply love them for being the mysterious, capricious creatures that they are. And they don't take them too seriously, either. They know the vicissitudes of the female mind, its constant insecurities and the fluctuations in mood.

Rather than pander to them, they simply watch them drift by like so many clouds on the horizon.

They don't get entangled in a woman's feelings and listen to her prattling on and on until she's talked herself out. Such strong and stoic men are exactly what women need to anchor themselves amid the chaos of their emotions.

Don't get me wrong, I know all a woman needs is a listening ear, some emotional dump she can use to make herself feel better. I have been on the receiving end of many long monologues on the hopelessness of a relationship , on boyfriends who seem to not make the cut and i do it because i'm a friend, and a friend will do anything to make someone he/she is close to feel better even in truth, deep down inside, he/she doesn't give a damn.

I will continue on this path. A path of honesty and integrity and not pretentious air and metrosexual vibes generated for the benefit of women craving for the New Male. I tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to, and if you don't like it, find that New Male of yours who'll sit with you and emphatise and not provide a solution to your woes.

Quite frankly, i've been labeled a sexist and a Male Chauvinistic Pig (MCP) in recent months and i just don't feel offended. I used to be a caring, sensitive, New Male wannabe who would have probably become of those chaps walking with a lady's handbag swinging from an arm, but not anymore.

Meet the new me. The dying breed of uber-male who will cut you down with words if you cross a line. The male who will give you what you need, but not what you want.

Cheers from the,

Matrix